Fate of Lau Shek
by The Good Doctor
Summary: My Phantasy Star IV-Chinese fantasy story comes to a close as our heroes, now all working together, must confront the evil Lau Shek in a decisive batte.
1. Chapter 1

This is the last story in my Phantasy Star IV reimagining series. The title is taken from a 1973 film called The Fate of Lee Khan, which is set around an inn. It's an old Chinese story troupe to set the events of a story in an inn filled with people whom may or may not be on the protagonists' side. The most famous film dealing with said story is the classic Dragon Inn, which has been remade a couple of times. This story is an homage to this plot trope.

The serene silence of the mountain trail was broken by the sound of footsteps. Those footsteps came from a solitary wanderer who made her way across the stony path, walking purposely up the windy path. The wanderer appeared to be from afar, for her clothing was unlike that of any resident of the land in which she found herself. She was dressed in a simple kimono and wore a large conical hat, which hid her face from all who might have seen her. By her side hung an ornate sword, different from those that the locals were used to seeing. Every few minutes, the lonely wanderer would stop and open up large fan to cool herself, after which she would continue her journey.

The further up the mountain the stranger went, the cooler the mountain breezes became, and the less she stopped to fan herself. The silent person continued on her journey, her gait revealing a sort of devotion to her arriving at wherever it was she was going, as if she were some sort of pilgrim. For hours the quiet figure, lost in her thoughts, made her way up and around the stony trail that hugged the side of the ridge. She did not know how much farther, or even the purpose for her journey. She only knew that it was her destiny to find this hidden sanctuary among the peaks.

It was sundown when a large building that looked like a Taoist temple came into view. The figure stopped and admired how anyone could've built such a large, magnificent building in the midst of so much loneliness. Taking a deep breath, the wanderer picked up her pace and headed swiftly toward the building. From inside she could hear dozens of voices—raucous laughter from whomever inhabited the place. Even before entering, it was apparent that this temple was no longer be used as such.

Walking into the building, the lonely woman discovered that she was now in a large inn, whose restaurant was filled with people eating and drinking and flirting, certainly not the sorts of activities one would associate with a Taoist temple. A few paid attention to her; her manner of dress would obviously call attention to anyone who saw her. She looked at the bar and found an attractive, yet tomboyish young lady behind the counter. The blue-haired beauty stared at her with rapt curiosity.

Sitting down at the counter, the figure lifted her hat up slightly, revealing a pair of large, mysterious brown eyes and an amused smile.

"So, is this is the famous hunter's sanctuary I've heard about?" the visitor asked.

The blue-haired bartender tilted her head curiously and raised an eyebrow. "Why, yes. I admit that I never expected word of our existence to reach the Eastern Islands."

The visitor simply chuckled and looked down at her dress. "Oh, this? Well, you can be rest assured that we're on the same side."

The bartender smiled. "That's good to know. May I ask your name, miss? I am Ti'er Kaire of Wudan. I'm the owner, if you will, of this establishment."

"Wudan? Interesting." The visitor nodded. "I am Li Si of the Hunter's Guild." Her voice was quiet, but firm.

Kaire's eyes widened at the introduction. "So you're famous Li Si?" Her voice overflowed with admiration. "The hunters here have told me lots of stories about you."

Li Si pulled her hat down and glanced around the restaurant. More people, mainly men but a few waitresses, were looking at her, but continued about their usual business of eating and drinking. Almost inaudible above the din was the sound of a harp; a lonely harpist, also wearing a straw hat, sat in the corner on the upper deck playing a few notes for some interested waitresses. She smiled beneath the hat.

Kaire then spoke up again. "You've been described as a master of the legendary Dragon Missiles. Can you…"

Li Si raised her hand to cut her off. "I'm sorry, Miss Kaire. I do not possess them anymore."

Kaire's excited smile became a scowl and she narrowed her eyes a bit. "Then how I do know for sure that it's you and not a spy?"

An akward silence followed for a few moments, as the two women stared deep into each other's eyes. Then Kaire smiled and spoke, "I know! Cha-Zi! Come here!"

Li Si's heart skipped a beat at the sound of that name. She spun around and saw a young blonde-haired man get up from a table hidden behind a group of near-drunk hunters. His eyes were closed and he walked with a cane, moving steadily through the crowd in her direction. Following behind him was a pretty young maiden with red hair. Squinting at said damsel, Li Si swore she saw a tuft of reddish fur on her ears.

As Cha-Zi came nearer to his old friend and mentor, Li Si laughed heartily and slapped her knee lightly. "My dear Cha-Zi, you were always a master of disguises. This must be one of your best ones yet."

Cha-Zi chuckled and extended his hand, trying to find Li Si's. "Ah Li, big sister, I'm afraid you've fallen behind on current events."

Ah Li looked at Cha-Zi strangely. "What do you mean by that?"

The blonde-haired youth took her hand into his hand and guided it to his eyes, caressing them lightly with her battle-calloused skin. For a few moments, Li Si stared and remained motionless confused at Cha-Zi's ritual. It soon dawned on her what was going on.

"Oh no," she whispered. Raising her volume, "What did they do to you, little brother?"

"Poison. I got into a battle with the Sun Moon Sect. I'm still alive, but just a little less whole now."

Ah Li wiped a single tear from her eye. "I'm sorry, Cha-Zi. Had I not asked you to go on your own, this never would've happened."

Cha-Zi smiled and waved away her apology. "Big sister, it is okay. I think that becoming blind is the best thing that could've happened to me. I'm twice the swordsman now that I ever was before. And I have a wonderful new travelling companion to." He pointed to the attractive young lady who stood behind him. "Ri-Ge, this is my big sister and mentor, Li Si. Li Si, this is Ri-Ge, my lover."

Ri-Ge inclined her head slightly at Li Si and simply said, "Big sister." As she did so, Li Si saw that Ri-Ge's ears were indeed those of a fox. Li Si smiled and said nothing.

The young blind man looked in Kaire's direction. "Kaire, you need not worry. This is indeed Li Si." At this moment, Li Si pulled her "little brother" into a firm embrace.

After a few moments, Kaire yelled. "Everybody! I want your attention!" The din settled down and stared at their benefactor. The Wudan priestess spoke up, "Li Si, your colleague and our champion is now with us!" The declaration was met with cheers. Li Si looked out into the crowd and removed her straw hat, revealing her brown hair tied up into a bun. "We now are ready to confront that rascal Lau Shek and his flunkies!" More cheers followed. "Now let us all train harder and prepare ourselves for battle!" The cheers grew even louder. Kaire looked back at Li Si and said, "You should get some rest now. We have some important things to discuss tomorrow. Ah Han!"

A young, scholarly man appeared. "Yes, Kaire?"

"Please, Ah Han. Find a room for our new friend, Li Si. I think we'll all have a lot to discuss tomorrow."

"Will do!"


	2. Chapter 2

Li Si got out of her bed and stretched her arms for a moment. She looked around her room for a few moments. It was a plain old monk's chamber converted into a small bedroom. Her bed was big to accommodate her, but just barely. Ah Han had told her the night before that before he and Kaire had established the abandoned temple as a refuge for hunters and spirits, the place had been caked under countless layers of dust and cobwebs. There was little sign of that now. Furniture was sparse—a simple bed, a couple of chairs, and a small table—but after having spent a fair amount of time on a ship and sleeping in a forest, the humble room was more than enough for her needs.

Li Si wiped her long brown hair out of her face and walked toward a small table that had a basin of water atop it. Looking into a polished brass mirror, she splashed the room-temperature water onto her face. She cupped her hands and drank a little, swishing it around her mouth before swallowing. Following that quick morning ritual, Li Si changed clothes from her night garments to a set of white robes and loose trousers that Kaire had one of the fox spirits give to her. She quickly tied her hair into a bun and rummaged through her things to get the two iron fans the tengu known as Grizu had given her.

After a few quick stretches and jumps, just to get the blood flowing, she began to practice. With two quick flicks of her wrists, the fans opened up. In no time, Li Si was twirling and spinning the fans around her body at lightning-fast speed, blocking attacks from imaginary enemies whom were coming at her from all sides. The bladed tips of the fans often passed dangerously close to her throat and face, but by now she had become proficient enough with the weapons that she couldn't hurt herself with them during practice.

After more than twenty minutes of practice, Li Si stepped out the door and made her way down the hallway to the rickety wooden staircase that led down to the restaurant. She could hear the yells and calls of people practicing downstairs, plus the sound of weapons hitting each other. Reaching the steps, she could see Kaire, Ah Han, Cha-Zi, and Ri-Ge practicing below. Most of the chairs and tables had been pushed to the side of the restaurant, and in some cases, were stacked on top of each other for the fighters to have more room.

Kaire was practicing with what appeared to be Emei piercers, a pair of pointed rods that were spun around the palms of the hands. Ah Han was practicing what appeared to be some basic knife forms; Li Si figured that the young fellow was not a natural fighter. Cha-Zi was sitting cross-legged atop a table; every few seconds Ri-Ge would throw one of her claws at him, which Cha-Zi would deflect with a quick swing of his sword.

As Li Si made her way down the stairs, her attention was brought to a series of light melodies coming from that solitary harpist, who sat at a table in the corner of the balcony above. Like the day before, the harpist's head was completely obscured by a large conical straw hat. Li Si thought about going over to him and trying to figure out who he was, but was then distracted by the sound of Kaire's voice.

"Ah Li!" the young woman called out. "Hope you slept well last night."

Li Si turned to her host and nodded. "Yes, thank you. Nice to see you all up early and training. And the others?"

Ah Han responded, "They're all outside practicing. Now that you're here, they've decided to pick up their pace a little more." He paused and looked at her thoughtfully. "To be honest, after you arrived yesterday, we sent one of our fox spirit friends to spy out Lau Shek. Depending on what the report is, we may have to pick up the pace even more."

Li Si said nothing, but simply nodded. Kaire made her way to the kitchen and quickly returned with a small bowl of porridge.

"Ah Li, please have some breakfast. We have a lot to discuss today."

Li Si nodded and sat down at one of the tables, which had been pushed aside to allow the others to train. As she brought the deep spoon of steaming porridge to her mouth, she paused and looked curiously at Kaire. "So, where does all this food and drink come from?"

Kaire laughed. "The fox spirits bring it to us. After we set up shop here at the temple, and the fox spirits found out that we were offering refuge to any spirit that wanted protection from any wandering Taoist priest who might want to exterminate him or her for a reward, they gladly accepted asylum here in exchange for providing us with provisions. Now, where they get the food, I'd be hard pressed to tell you."

Li Si looked up at the harpist, who continued to pluck the strings of the harp in the most delicate manner. "And that fellow upstairs?"

Kaire looked up at the harpist. "Oh, him? He arrived here some time ago. He doesn't talk much…er…at all really. He communicates mainly with a set of small scrolls that basically tell us anything we need to know, or that he needs. He mainly just sits around playing—the female fox spirits love his music so they're always giving him good food. Sometimes he stops playing to read a little, but that's about it."

Li Si pursed her lips for a moment. "Have you ever seen—"

Kaire cut her off. "—his face? No. Nobody has. I tried to get a look at it and then I tried to have one of the fox spirits do the same. No success at that."

Li Si shrugged as she sipped on her porridge. "So how do you all spend your time here?"

Kaire smiled. "Mainly training. Although Ah Han and I have a little project we're working on."

Swallowing another spoonful of her breakfast, Li Si lifted an eyebrow.

"Before we came here, Ah Han was a public servant at the Imperial Library. On the eve of our flight here, he found a couple of interesting books that I figured we might need. We also figured that it would help bring Lau Shek himself over here." Kaire looked over at Han and motioned with her head for him to run some prearranged errand.

Ah Han quickly left the room and returned a few minutes later with two books in his hands. Li Si's eyes widened as they scanned the covers of the two books. But she refrained from speaking. By now, the three were being joined by Cha-Zi and Ri-Ge, who had finished their training. The two young lovers pulled up a chair and sat near the others. The red-haired fox spirit used her wide white sleeves to wipe the sweat from hers and Cha-Zi's brows.

"We've been studying these books trying to figure out how to get past Lau Shek's armor." Kaire observed. "The books mainly discuss how to develop the skills; unfortunately, they don't really mention how to break the technique."

Li Si pondered Kaire's words for a moment. "Well, what we…or at least I know is that Lau Shek uses three different types of armor techniques. They function more or less as different layers of armor, so you have to break the techniques in the right order."

Ah Han and Kaire nodded in agreement, although Ri-Ge showed a bit of surprise at that declaration.

Kaire continued Li Si's thought, "One of the techniques is known as the Invincible Iron Armor. I'm not totally sure, but I believe that technique can be broken through pressure points. Are you familiar with those?"

Li Si's thoughts returned to her training with Raja, and how he instructed her to push certain pressure points before setting a bone. She nodded. "Yes," she answered quietly. "I have a bit of training in that area."

Kaire smiled. "Excellent. I do, too. My piercers are particularly good at ferreting out pressure points, so we have a chance on that front."

Ah Han, the scholar, continued the discussion. "The second type of armor is known as the Spirit Armor. According to the manuals, it summons the demons of the region to inhabit the user's body and make him invulnerable. The books, however, mention nothing of its weak point. We think that it may be another pressure point, but we can't be sure."

For a few minutes an awkward silence followed. Li Si reached out for one of the books and scanned its pages, trying to find some phrase or diagram that the others might have missed, which might hold the key to breaking the Spirit Armor. It was as she was steeped in deep thought that a sudden sound of something piercing the table startled her and the others. The object appeared to be a dart, but with a small roll of paper wrapped around it.

"Huh," commented Kaire, with a hint of awe in her voice. "It's one of the harpist's scrolls."

Li Si shot a confused look at the harpist, who seemed to pay no heed to her, but continued plucking the strings of his instrument, producing sweet, soothing melodies. Kaire extracted the dart from the table and unrolled the little scroll.

The blue-haired Taoist read the contents aloud: "With regards to the Spirit Armor, you must consider the following: If the Spirit Armor were indeed unbeatable, our nation would've conquered the entire world by now. Therein lies the technique's weakness."

"That's it!" yelled Ah Han after a few moments' pondering. "Local demons, local weapons! I'm ashamed that I didn't think of that before."

"I don't follow you," Ri-Ge said, chiming in on the conversation.

"You see, the essence of the Spirit Armor is that the user's body is possessed by local demons or spirits. Their power is limited to the region in which they inhabit. Thus, the user is protected against weapons that have been forged in that region or country. In other words, weapons that have been forged in a foreign land aren't subject to the magic, and thus can harm the user as well as they would harm any other fighter."

Now it was Li Si's turn to speak up. "I think you're on to something. That would very well explain why Grizu asked me to exchange my Dragon Missiles for these iron fans." Li Si removed the two metal objects from deep pocket inside her robe. She showed them to Ah Han, Kaire, and Ri-Ge. "These were forged on the Eastern Islands. And this—" She pointed to the sword that hung by her side. "—Kaire, can you fight with a sword?"

Kaire nodded. "Of course! Swords are standard-issue Wudan weapons."

Li Si smiled faintly. She removed the sheathed weapon from her belt and handed it to Kaire. Kaire unsheathed the blade. Its bright reflection marveled both Ah Han and Ri-Ge. Kaire performed a Taoist sword form with the weapon, jumping, thrusting the blade out while standing on one leg, and swinging the weapon in broad, sweeping, circular motions.

"Good," said Li Si dryly. "That leaves us now with one more armor technique to break through."

Then the ominous words proceeded from Ah Han's mouth: "The God's Armor."


	3. Chapter 3

Li Si sat on her bed, her brown eyes fixed intently on the two books in front of her. She analyzed the diagrams and the explanations of the two armor techniques, trying her best to not only understand them, but to find any hint as to how to break the infamous God's Armor technique. It had already been four days since her last meeting with her colleagues. She had asked Kaire to lend her the books so that she might study them and figure out a weak point in the third armor technique that Lau Shek had supposedly mastered. Other than a couple of hours each day that she devoted to training, she spent most of her time pouring over the books in hopes of discovering something that would help her cause. She had found nothing.

At length Li Si lied back on the bed and let out a loud sigh. Deciding to allow her mind to rest a little, she allowed her thoughts to drift to her new allies. Ti'er Kaire, who more or less ran the inn, was probably the most powerful fighter behind Li Si herself, a feisty young woman with a violent mean streak hiding behind her cheerful tomboyish demeanor. Kaire had more or less volunteered herself to fight Lau Shek alongside her, which Li Si had no problem with.

Then there was Ah Han, the former scholar. Ah Han reminded her a little of her love, Ru-Ne, except that Ah Han also had something of a dark side hiding behind his harmless exterior. He was not a martial artist at all, but in the numerous months that he had been by Kaire's side, she had taught him how to fight with a dagger, which he seemed to master rather well. Ah Han was something of an enigma to Li Si; he spent most of his non-training or serving hours in a small garden near the inn, tending to flowers, often striking up conversations with them.

Finally there was Cha-Zi and Ri-Ge, her young protégé and his lover. It didn't take Li Si long to figure out that Ri-Ge was a fox spirit, although she was definitely not the sort that would bewitch young men in order to do harm to them, at least not on purpose. She was as good a fighter as could be hoped for and seemed to take good care of her blind companion. Li Si felt pangs of guilt whenever she saw or thought about her young apprentice—she thought that she should've taken him with her to the Eastern Islands to train beside her. Cha-Zi tried to reassure her that everything was okay, that more hunters would've been killed had he not gone to that abandoned temple when he did.

As she was lost in her thoughts, a sudden knock on the door startled her. Li Si jumped to her feet and made her way to the door, opening it slightly. She could see Ah Han's face, full of youth but with visible emotional scars right around the eyes.

"Ah Li, our spy has returned with a full report on Lau Shek's activities. Please join us downstairs."

Li Si nodded. "I'll be right down." She quickly tied her hair into a bun and followed the young man down to the restaurant.

Kaire and the others were already sitting down at a table in the middle of the restaurant area. There was a female fox spirit, who looked like Ri-Ge but with dark purple hair, who was receiving all of their attention. Li Si and Ah Han both pulled up a chair and directed their gazes to the young fox spirit, who was sipping on a cup of tea.

The spy began her report. "Lau Shek is personally on his way here. He's about fifteen leagues away, so he should be here in about two days or so."

Kaire inquired, "How many soldiers are accompanying him?"

The spy nodded, swallowing a small gulp of her tea. "There are about 40 of the king's guard with him."

"That should make it fairly easy," Ri-Ge observed.

"Not quite," continued the maiden. "Lau Shek is also being accompanied by the three Generals: Chufa, Kuxing, and Zhu."

"I've heard of them," Li Si commented quietly. "'The Punisher', 'The Torturer', and 'The Executioner'. They're known for being the three cruelest generals in the Emperor's army. Anybody else?"

The spy nodded. "Riding alongside Lau Shek was a magician who was dressed in black. I'm not sure who he is, though."

Hearing this, Li Si looked up at Kaire, who in turn looked at Ah Han. Li Si looked over at Ah Han, whose body seemed to tense up at the mere mention of a magician in black. Ah Han clenched his fists and bit his lips, but remained silent.

After the spy finished her report, Kaire dismissed her and the five turned their attentions to the need for a battle plan. After some discussion, it was decided that Cha-Zi, Ah Han, and Ri-Ge would confront the generals while Kaire and Li Si would face Lau Shek himself. The other hunters and fox spirits would ambush the guards on the mountain trail. When everybody was more or less satisfied with the battle plan, the topic of the discussion turned to Lau Shek and his God's Armor technique.

Li Si, like Ah Han and Kaire, had not found anything in the books that explicitly hinted at what the weak point in the technique might be. As they fruitlessly tried to find some sort of solution to this problem, they were startled by an object striking the tabletop. It was another dart from the silent harpist. Kaire reached over and unrolled the small piece of parchment attached to the dart.

"'I have the answer to your riddle,'" the note read.

Li Si and others looked up at the harpist, who was nonchalantly playing some music on his instrument. They got up from table and walked up to the balcony and over to the table where the harpist was perched. Pulling up several chairs, they all sat down and stared at the stranger, who at first acted as if he didn't even notice that he had company. After a few seconds, the musician stopped playing and sat still.

"You said that you know how to break through the God's Armor?" Li Si asked directly, her voice tinged with curiosity.

The harpist nodded slightly, his face invisible beneath the large conical hat.

"Please tell us," pleaded Kaire.

Nodding once more, the harpist reached into robes and produced a small stack of papers. Handing them to Li Si, he gestured with an open palm that she should have a look at them. Li Si started looking at the papers, not noticing that all eyes were on her. After going through the stack of papers twice, she slammed them face-down on the table and glared at the silent figure.

"Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?" she asked, quickly losing her patience.

The stranger simply shook his head.

Ri-Ge reached over and picked up the papers with delicate hands. As she glanced at their content, her face quickly turned a shade of bright red. Trying to hide her embarrassment with a nervous laugh, she commented, "Well, I did notice some of the female fox spirits visiting his room these past few nights. Now I know what they were up to."

Kaire quickly snatched the papers from Ri-Ge's hands and had a look for herself. At first she began blushing, but soon her embarrassed frown became a wicked smile. "You know, this makes perfect sense!" she exclaimed. "I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier!"

Ri-Ge and Li Si looked at Kaire with unbelief, while Ah Han and Cha-Zi remained expressionless—they had no idea what was going on. Ri-Ge whispered something into Cha-Zi's ear, causing him to chuckle.

Kaire went on. "Now I get it. You see, the God's Armor technique requires pure thoughts to work. Any impure thoughts will almost immediately negate the technique and leave the user vulnerable. With these, we can break Lau Shek's train of thought and get past his armor." Turning to the harpist, who remained motionless, Kaire said, "If I'm not mistaken, the other person who uses this technique…" Kaire asked the harpist for a pen. Taking it from his hand, Kaire scribbled a quick note and handed it to him.

The harpist took the note and pulled his hand beneath his hat to read it. After a few moments, he turned his head to the grinning priestess and nodded.

Kaire turned to Ah Han and said, "Ah Han, I think you'll be able to avenge Saya after all."

Ah Han nodded and reached over and pulled his dagger from his belt. Touching the haft to his forehead, he muttered, "This dagger killed one corrupt Taoist priest. Now it shall kill one more."

Author's note:

The words Chufa, Kuxing, and Zhu mean to "to punish", "torture", and "to execute", respectively.


	4. Chapter 4

The sound of the wind blowing through the trees of the mountain was soon joined by that of marching feet and trotting horses. In front of the inn, Ti'er Kaire, Li Si, Cha-Zi, Ri-Ge, and Lung Han stood defiantly, waiting for the arrival of the Eunuch Lau Shek and his men. The five warriors kept their weapons hidden in their clothing, but were ready use them at the faintest sign of conflict. Their hearts beat powerfully within them and they awaited their fates with the utmost of anticipation.

More than a hundred feet away, where the mountain path began to dip downward, the heads of horses and guards begin to appear on the horizon. They moved slowly, but surely, as riding quickly through the mountain path could result in one accidentally falling down the steep, rocky slope. Leading the march were the three generals, Chufa, Kuxing, and Zhu. Chufa wore a suit of golden armor that matched his hair color, which contrasted with the thick blue clothing he wore beneath it. Kuxing wore a combination of green clothing with pink armor, which also matched his hair, much like that of his colleague. Finally, Zhu was girded in the same gold armor that Chufa used, but wore dark grey clothes beneath it. The faces of all three of the generals were sculpted into permanent scowls, which struck fear into the hearts of Lung Han and Ri-Ge.

They led the procession of soldiers, most of whom were wearing light armor and brandishing spears, behind them, in the middle of which was a large elaborately-crafted cedar sedan carried by a few burly foot soldiers. Li Si knew that Lau Shek was inside the Sedan. Beside it rode a mysterious figure dressed in black. As they came closer to the inn, Kaire recognized the rider: it was Zi-Ou, her colleague-turned enemy. Zi-Ou's eyes met with Kaire's, but his haughty expression did not change when he saw her.

At length the procession came with thirty feet of the inn and stopped. Zhu rode forward a several feet and produced a scroll with gold trimmings from one of the saddle bags on his horse. Unrolling the parchment, he declared with a booming voice, "By order of the Emperor, we command you rebels to cease all activities and turn yourselves in. Moreover, if whoever is responsible for the theft of the Sacred Volumes from the Imperial Library is present, he must return said articles, under threat of execution."

Li Si stepped forward and reached into her white jacket. She pulled out the two manuals and waved them tauntingly at Zhu. If your lordship, the Eunuch Lau Shek, wants these books, tell him that he has to get them himself. We will not do business with the middle man."

"Insolent—"Zhu began.

He was interrupted by a series of small explosions that erupted within the ranks of the guards. Soon the entire area transformed into a smoky chaos as soldiers ran in every direction trying to avoid the explosions and figure out who was throwing bombs at them. Soon, dozens of armed hunters and fox spirits poured from the trees and fell upon the confused soldiers.

At the same time, Li Si and Kaire ran up the trail that led further up the mountain. Their flight was met by the explosion of the sedan that carried Lau Shek that sent huge splinters of wood in all directions. A lone figure, dressed in dark blue royal robes and a blue mitre, leapt high into the air and landed on the path that Li Si and Kaire were taking. He soon pursued them up the mountain.

The three generals turned their attention to the hunters that were fighting with the soldiers. Ri-Ge quickly reacted and threw both ends of her claw weapon at the horses. The two talons dug into the flesh of the Chufa's and Kuxing's horses' necks and brought the animals down. The two generals jumped off their horses, as did Zhu. A cloud of dust rose from the earth as their heavy feet landed on the ground. They turned to the feisty female fox spirit and walked toward her. Cha-Zi, sensing that conflict was afoot, stepped forward, finding his way with his cane until he stood next to his companion.

Chufa screamed with a piercing voice, "Identify yourselves, rebels!"

"I am Cha-Zi of the Hunter's Guild," the blind swordsman said quietly.

"I am Ri-Ge of the Sun Moon Sect," said the fox spirit defiantly.

"Traitors! All of you!" roared Kuxing. "We have a way of dealing with your type."

The three generals simultaneously reached behind their backs and pulled out their weapon of a choice: a large bullwhip. Ri-Ge whispered something into Cha-Zi's ear and he nodded, side-stepping a few feet so that he was face to face with Zhu. Ri Ge held her claws with both hands, one at each end.

For a several moments, General Zhu stepped quietly towards Cha-Zi, who showed no reaction to Zhu's movements. Once in a while, Cha-Zi would tilt his head, but otherwise, he remained motionless. Cautiously, the general sidestepped back and forth, testing Cha-Zi's senses and trying to throw him off. At one moment, the picked up a small stone and threw it near the blind hunter, who directed his attention to the ground near his foot. At this moment, Zhu made his move.

Zhu snapped his whip at Cha-Zi, who stood still and reacted only by holding his cane up to block the weapon. The general snapped the weapon again, which Cha-Zi also parried. Cha-Zi, who was unable to see, used his hearing to detect any sudden movements from his opponent. Zhu screamed and ran towards the hunter. The general leapt into the air to deliver a flying kick to Cha-Zi. The hunter quickly dropped to the ground and rolled under the general, thrusting his cane up as the general passed above him, striking his attacker's thigh and causing him to land on his knees.

Cha-Zi kicked up to his feet and turned slowly to Zhu, who was still getting up. As soon as the maddened general rose to his feet, he started angrily lashing his weapon at the swordsman, who calmly deflected every blow with his cane, without so much as a single flinch. Angered, Zhu directed his next attack not at Cha-Zi, but at his cane. He swung his whip at it, which wrapped around it, and began to pull with all his might. Cha-Zi began to be pulled forward and dragged towards Zhu.

Zhu gave a great tug to the whip, which nearly lifted Cha-Zi off his feet as he was brought closer to Zhu. Reacting quickly, Cha-Zi used the forward momentum to jump into the air and plant both of his feet into Zhu's chest. Zhu hit the ground with a dull thud, nearly getting the wind knocked out of him. General Zhu moved rapidly, though, and before Cha-Zi could regain his ground from his flying drop kick, Zhu moved behind him and wrapped his whip around Cha-Zi's throat. Zhu's teeth gnashed together in an evil smile as he tightened the leather cord around the blind man's neck. Cha-Zi wildly threw his elbows back, smashing them violently against the general's ribs, but the general continued to pull harder. The hunter swung his cane back, but only managed to strike the general's metal shin guards.

Cha-Zi struggled for breath and gasped for air, but was soon felt weak and faint. Knowing that it was his last option, the blonde-haired hunter grabbed the top of his cane and pulled out the sword that he kept inside it. Cha-Zi thrust the blade behind him, burying it Zhu's stomach. The general howled in pain and loosened his grip on his whip. Cha-Zi threw his head back, smashing it into Zhu's face, breaking his nose and covering his face in blood. With a quick jerk, Cha-Zi yanked the sword from Zhu's belly and spun around. Tuning his ears to Zhu's groans, Cha-Zi lifted his sword and brought it down on the general's face.

For a few moments there was silence as Cha-Zi stood still, holding his cane sword in a defensive posture. Then, he heard the sound of a body dropping to the ground. With the scabbard of his cane sword, Cha-Zi felt his way over to Zhu's body, which appeared to be motionless. He then plunged his sword into the man's torso. At that moment, his strength failed him and he fell to his knees, gasping for air and breathing raggedly.

Ri-Ge struggled mightily to catch the whips with her claws, but ultimately was unsuccessful. She yelped in pain as Chufa's and Kuxing's whips repeatedly struck her arms, leaving bloody cuts on them. The light blue sleeves of her robes soon turned a dark purple color. The two generals cackled loudly as they saw their opponent desperately trying to defend herself to no avail. Looking at one another, they nodded and changed tactics: Chufa started cracking his whip at Ri-Ge's upper body while Kuxing when for her legs. Ri-Ge leapt and skipped as Kuxing started tearing pieces of skin out of her ill-protected thighs.

Ri-Ge finally jumped back a few feet in order to open a large gap between her and the generals and to reconsider her strategy. Ri-Ge and the generals began to walk in a wide circle. The fox spirit's mind raced to find a solution to her problem. Every few seconds, one of the generals would crack his whip at her, causing her to stumble back in order to avoid taking another blow. Then Ri-Ge had an idea.

The red-haired spirit dropped to the ground and tumbled forward toward the two. Ri-Ge felt her arms and legs burn as her cuts rubbed against the hard ground, mixing dust into her wounds. She could also feel sharp pain of the generals' whips against her back. As soon as she landed near the two men, she gripped both claws and swung them wildly at Chufa's and Kuxing's legs. While she missed the latter, who stumbled backward out of her reach, she was able to dig into Kuxing's unprotected calves with the sharp talons, ripping through his trousers tearing out a hung of skin and flesh. Kuxing collapsed immediately, screaming obscenities at Ri-Ge and her kind.

Ri-Ge quickly kicked up and closed the distance between her and Chufa before the latter could take another crack at her. She hacked at him with the talons, scratching through the sleeves of his garb and into his biceps. Like Ri-Ge, Chufa's blood mixed with the blood fabric of his shirt to form a deep purple.

"How do you like that!" the female fox spirit screamed.

Chufa tried to fight her close quarters, but was unable to block her onslaught of blows. Holding his whip with one hand at the handle and the other at about a cubit away, the general tried to both parry her blows and wrap the leather cord around Ri-Ge's wrists. Ri-Ge dropped to the ground and wrapped her legs around Chufa's. Confused by her change in tactics, Chufa was unable to block when Ri-Ge swung her arms in wide, inward-curving arc and dug her claws into Chufa's kidneys. Chufa dropped his whip and clutched his wounds as Ri-Ge pulled her weapons out of his sides.

Ri-Ge was quickly on her feet and read to rip Chufa's head to pieces she felt a sharp pain and a tug at her ankle, almost pulling her off her feet. It was Kuxing, whose whip had wrapped around her foot. Ri-Ge fought to maintain balance. Chufa, seeing this, launched himself at her, throwing a barrage of punches at her face. Ri-Ge parried the blows with her claws, which struck against Chufa's metal gauntlets, preventing further damage to his arms. Kuxing continued pulling, which furthered Ri-Ge's confusion, ending with her taking a blow to the jaw and almost knocking her unconscious.

Thinking quickly, Ri-Ge took one end of her claw and through it out at Kuxing, who was still on the ground. The claw sailed through the air and found its target in Kuxing's throat. Blood spurted through the four holes that the metal talons had dug into it, soaking his green clothing and covering his pink armor. In a few moments, Kuxing was dead, lying on the ground and clutching his throat.

As Ri-Ge whirled around to face Chufa for the last time, a lightning-fast lash of his whip struck her on the cheek, leaving a crimson-red bloody gash on it. Ri-Ge staggered backward, wiping the wound with her light-blue sleeves, trying to get the blood off. She saw Chufa raise his whip for another powerful lash. Ri-Ge quickly through the cord that joined the two claws out. The cord wrapped around the whip just as Chufa was about to crack it, causing him to lose momentum and aim. With a powerful grip, Ri-Ge yanked the whip out of Chufa's hand, leaving him unarmed.

Chufa let out a scream of dismay and dashed at Ri-Ge, jumping in the air and thrusting his leg out at her head. Ri-Ge quickly stepped aside and threw out her claw again. The claw tore into Chufa's crotch. Landing on the ground with a high-pitched shriek, Chufa turned to face his female opponent just as Ri-Ge pulled the cord so hard that the claw flew back to its owner. With a blood-curdling scream, Chufa fell to his knees, and then face first to the ground. His scream soon became a low whimper, and then silence.


	5. Chapter 5

Zi-Ou watched calmly as the Young scholarly man violently hacked and slashed his way through the guards that stood in his way. The black-clad magician was intrigued to some extent by the martial prowess of the man, who looked rather innocuous. However, it was the fact that the brown-haired youth seemed to move in a beeline toward Zi-Ou as soon as the conflict erupted that really caught his attention. Who was this man and what business did he have to settle with Zi-Ou?

In a few moments, the knife-wielding scholar stood face to face with the Taoist magician. Zi-Ou could see fire in the man's eyes; he obviously had some score to settle. The scholar said nothing, but wiped the blood on the blade of his knife on his sleeve and smiled in a sinister manner at Zi-Ou.

Zi-Ou, overcome with curiosity, decided to speak. "It would appear that you have some business with me, my friend."

For a moment, the scholar remained silent. Then he nodded. "Your deduction is correct."

"Might I ask at least who you are, as I honestly have no idea what I might have done to offend you."

"I am Lung Han of the Imperial Library," came the response, spoken quite dryly.

Zi-Ou narrowed his eyes and nodded, wiping his long black hair out of his face. "Hm

. That would explain why the court would have business to settle with you. But that doesn't explain what you want from me."

At that moment, the scholar reached into his white robe and pulled out something that he kept hidden in his fist. Extending his fist, he slowly opened it, going finger by finger. Zi-Ou caught a glimpse of something blue in the palm of Han's hand, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. When Lung Han had finally opened his fist completely, Zi-Ou could see the crumpled blue petal of a bellflower.

The magician opened his mouth in disbelief. His lips then formed an arrogant sneer. "So, you were the nymph's husband. I guess I should apologize to you, then."

"That will not bring her back."

"I suppose that telling you that I killed her for the greater good of the empire will also not be of any consolation."

"Many of the worst acts ever committed were done for the so-called 'greater good of the kingdom'. You can't deceive me with that silly rhetoric."

Zi-Ou nodded and said in calm, dispassionate tone, "I suppose then it our destiny to fight." Zi-Ou pointed to the inn. "Let us resolve our differences in there, away from the heat of battle, where the others might disturb us."

Lung Han nodded in agreement. Both men walked side by side toward the entrance of the inn. They entered the building, which at first glance was empty. Then Zi-Ou could hear the faint sound of notes being played from a harp. Looking up, he saw a lone harpist, dressed quite raggedly, sitting in the corner. The harpist, whose face was covered by a large conical hat, apparently didn't notice the two men entering, much less that a duel to the death was about to take place. Zi-Ou shook his head and dismissed the musician as a harmless spectator, a wandering bard who, in years to come, may tell the story of the victory of Lau Shek over the rebels.

Most of the tables had already been pushed to one side of the restaurant before the Zi-Ou entered the establishment, leaving a nice open space for the men to duel. Lung Han stood still, his feet close together, his arm extended with the point of his blade pointed precisely at Zi-Ou's throat. Zi-Ou saw a look of anticipation in the scholar's eyes, as if he had thought of nothing during the past several months but to slay him. Zi-Ou, standing several feet away, stood tall with his hands behind his back.

Tauntingly, Zi-Ou said to the scholar, "If you wish to kill me so much, then you'd better do it quickly."

Lung Han let out a yell and ran toward the Taoist magician. He thrust his dagger at Zi-Ou's heart. Zi-Ou remained motionless as the blade cut through his black silk robes but stopped at his skin. Han's eyes widened. He quickly retracted his arm and slashed at his enemy's throat and face. The blade did not even penetrate Zi-Ou's skin in the slightest, but ran against as if the knife had been dull for centuries. Furiously, Lung Han slashed even more at Zi-Ou's torso, but his knife failed to produce any wound. Zi-Ou simply responded by yawning.

"Really, Scholar Han. Is that the best you can do?"

Han thrust his knife out again, this time aiming for Zi-Ou's groin. This time the magician reacted, slamming the palm of his hand into the Han's face before Han could complete his attack. The blow sent Han doubling back. The scholar looked up at the magician and wiped away a trickle of blood from his nose.

Watching the scholar run at him once more, the magician decided to defend himself a little more vigorously. Swinging his arms in small, circular patterns, Zi-Ou parried and deflected all of Lung Han's attempts to stab him. Once in a while, Zi-Ou would do so with only one arm, yawning so as to mock his zealous opponent. At length, the Taoist grew tired of his opponent's attacks and grabbed Lung Han by his wrist and shoulder. With a strong heave, Zi-Ou launched Han into the air. The scholar fell on top of a table, reducing it to splinters with a loud CRASH!

Lung Han was soon on his hands and knees, struggling to push himself back up to his feet. Zi-Ou took a few steps toward the wounded man.

With a cocky laugh, Zi-Ou said, "Let me show you a little of the power of Maoshan magic. Zan!"

A strong blast of wind emanated from the magician's palms and carried the scholar into the air, dropping him onto another table and breaking it. Lung Han groaned as he rolled over and tried to get up again. Zi-Ou performed the magic technique again, which lifted Han up once more and tossed him across the room like a straw doll, slamming his body into the counter of the bar.

Zi-Ou looked down at the reeling Han and shook his head in contempt. "Now we need to finish you off in some amusing way. Should I slice you in have with gra? Should I burn you to a cinder with foi? Or should I reduce you to a pulp with tsu? Decisions, decisions."

Lung Han looked up at his tormentor, blood running from his lips and from numerous cuts on his forehead. "Don't kill me…at least not before I deliver you a message."

Zi-Ou raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Lung Han nodded weakly. "Yes, Kaire asked me to deliver a message to you." His trembling hand reached once more into his robes and produced a piece of paper folded into a perfect square. Zi-Ou stooped down and snatched the paper from Lung Han's hands.

Zi-Ou was filled with anticipation as he opened the supposed letter from Kaire, whom was both his love and his enemy. He knew that she would probably not survive her encounter with the Eunuch Lau Shek, but at least was pleased that her last words would be directed to him, whatever they may be.

Opening the letter, the look on his face changed from that of morbid curiosity to complete and utter astonishment. Before his eyes, drawn in what appeared to be absolute perfect deal, was the naked body of Ti'er Kaire, the woman whom he had once loved. He stared at every contour, every line, and every feature that her robes and tomboyish attire had always covered. His heart began to pound furiously, and yet he felt a slight, very faint weakness inside of him.

Suddenly, Zi-Ou felt a searing pain in his stomach. He looked down and saw Lung Han's knife embedded in his belly. Zi-Ou bit down on his lips in pain. Lung Han, who stood in front of him, pulled the knife out of the wound and proceeded to ferociously stab him two more times in the gut. Zi-Ou's black garb was now glistening as it became soaked with blood.

Zi-Ou growled and screamed, "Zan!" once more. The gust of wind pushed Lung Han back several feet into the counter again, almost knocking the wind out of him.

"You aren't so strong without your God's Armor, are you?" said Lung Han, this time his voice being peppered with arrogance.

"Very clever, Scholar. But I'm afraid that, whatever happens to me, you will not be around to witness." Zi-Ou raised his arms to perform one last magic technique.

At that moment, a powerful force, not unlike a heavy metal weight, struck Zi-Ou in the back, causing him to nearly fall forward. Zi-Ou regained his balance and twirled around to see who had struck him. There was nobody behind him, but looking him, Zi-Ou could see that the harpist was no longer sitting at the table. The musician now stood at the railing of the balcony. Zi-Ou watched as the harpist plucked two of the strings. To his horror, two large, watery fists flew from the strings toward Zi-Ou. It was the tsu technique!

One of the fists struck Zi-Ou in the chest, the other in the belly where he had been stabbed. Blood splattered from the wound and painted the wooden floor with little red droplets. Angrily, Zi-Ou started yelling out different spells, principally foi. Falls of fire flew from the magician's hands at the balcony, but the harpist was able to sidestep them and avoid being burnt alive. The harpist quickly plucked another string, sending a lightning-like blade from the instrument at Zi-Ou, which sliced through his bicep.

Zi-Ou screamed in agony as he clutched his bleeding arm and fired a zan spell at his opponent. The harpist was struck by some pieces of wood that had been flung by the powerful wind, but kept his ground. Playing his instrument once more, the delightful notes produced more watery fists that struck both Zi-Ou and a table nearby, reducing the wooden structure to splinters. Zi-Ou tried ducking for cover beneath another table, but a pluck of a string on the stranger's harp sent a ball of fire—foi—at the table, quickly transforming it into ash and leaving the sorcerer vulnerable once more.

The harpist's playing grew more feverish as dozens of blue, fist-like balls of water were flung from the strings at the weakened magician, most of which found their target. Blood now ran down most of Zi-Ou's face and the stab wounds in his stomach were now even larger. Zi-Ou could barely concentrate enough to perform any counter-attack against the endless barrage of techniques from the stranger who stood above him.

Zi-Ou's vision soon began to grow hazy and everything around became something of a blur. His belly was hurting beyond measure and Zi-Ou soon abandoned any hope of fighting back. The harpist's music soon ceased, and the only thing that Zi-Ou could hear was his own ragged breathing. He looked up and saw the harpist staring at him, but was otherwise motionless.

Then a large blur appeared before him. Zi-Ou deduced that it was Lung Han, from the way the figure trembled and swayed. Zi-Ou saw what appeared to be Han's arm extend from his side and that there was something shiny in it. It was Han's knife. The Taoist magician braced himself for what was coming. The last thing that he saw was Lung Han's arm moving in towards his throat.


	6. Chapter 6

Kaire and Li Si ran as fast as they could up the rocky slopes of the mountain, occasionally hindered by the occasional steep upturns in the trail. They knew they were being followed by Lau Shek, as they had seen him leap out of the exploding sedan. But they were not sure how far behind them he was. They were already far out of sight of the inn and the battle that was taking place outside of it, even to the point where the sounds of weapons clashing together now seemed to become mere echoes.

The two female warriors rounded the path that led up the mount, hugging a near vertical slope. It opened into a large flat area, about ten by twenty yards in dimension. The slope of the mountain appeared to recede a little in order allow room for this opening in the trail, only to jut out again at the other side. The two women stopped to catch their breath. The air was beginning to grow thinner and it took several minutes for them to get all their strength back.

The blue-haired Taoist looked at her more-experienced companion. "Where do you think he is?" she panted.

"Closer than you think," called a raspy voice from above.

Li Si and Kaire quickly ducked for cover as two large fireballs struck the ground where they had been standing. They could feel the shockwave from the explosions that the foi techniques caused on impact, but were otherwise unaffected. Lau Shek, who had been perched on a rock above them, jumped down—a distance of almost twenty feet—and landed square on his feet. The eunuch's withered-looking face sent shivers down Kaire's spine. Li Si, who was already familiar with him, simply stared angrily at their enemy; all of this death and conflict that she had endured and witnessed was his doing.

Lau Shek placed his hands behind his back and paced back and forth for a few moments. "So, it has finally come to this," he said, his lips pulled up into a cruel smile. "I never thought that I would be given the privilege of fighting you, the great Li Si, myself."

"Hold your tongue, eunuch!" yelled Li Si defiantly. "You say it's a privilege. You will not think that when you see your severed head takes a good look at your body from several feet away."

"Never make threats, my dear, that you do not intend to keep," retorted the eunuch, stifling an evil laugh.

"Butcher! Madman!" screamed Kaire shrilly. "You don't know how many lives have been taken because of your lust for power. What right have you to declare war on the spirits and the Hunter's Guild?"

"So, the little traitor speaks up," answered Lau Shek cockily. "I'll destroy all who stand in my way. When I kill all of you here, my grip on this country will become as strong as steel. And your father, he too will have to pay the price for your insolence, little girl."

"Well, talk is cheap, man-woman," taunted Li Si. "I suppose you'll be wanting these." Li Si reached into her dust-crusted white robes and removed two books. "After all, they do contain the secret to your power."

With an arrogant smile, the eunuch shook his shriveled-up face and laughed. "Li Si. Not only are you a traitor, but a petty thief as well. Those belong to the Imperial Library. Give them to me now!" he roared.

"As you wish," said Li Si, coldly. She threw the two books over to the Eunuch, who caught them in the air.

Opening the books, he looks at several of the pages and then threw the books on the ground. "What is this?" Then, with a wicked chuckle, he went on. "Well, the two of you seemed to be a bit more prepared than I expected you to be. Unfortunately, you got the wrong order."

Kaire and Li Si turned to each other and nodded. Kaire reached into her bearskin vest and removed her two emei piercers, the infamous Demon Rods. The women dashed at the eunuch, who stood perfectly still. As they came closer to him, Kaire quickly stashed her piercers back in her vest and reached for the sword that hung by her side. Drawing it with lightning-fast reflexes, she brought the curved blade across Lau Shek's belly. The sword sliced through his blue robes and left a shallow cut on his stomach.

Lau Shek doubled back in surprise. "Wh-What? How?"

"Silly eunuch. Your armor won't protect you against foreign weapons," called out the tomboyish Taoist.

Before Lau Shek could react again, Li Si had already drawn her fans and began slashing at him with them. Kaire joined the fracas and soon Lau Shek was fighting tooth and claw against the two women, desperately trying to avoid the barrage of slashes and jabs from their sharpened weapons. Li Si's razor-sharp fans sliced through his clothes and left numerous cuts on his arm. Lau Shek tried to respond by using his Maoshan magic techniques on the girls, but was unable to concentrate as their weapons kept piercing his magically-protected skin.

After several minutes of fighting, Li Si leapt into the air and spun her body, her arms outstretched. The fans spun around her, ready to cut through anything unlucky enough to be found in its path. One of the fans struck Lau Shek's neck, but was unable to break through it. Lau Shek reacted quickly and savaged threw his foot into Li Si's stomach, sending her flying back several yards. Kaire ran to her side.

"Li Si! Are you alright?" asked Kaire, her voice dripping with concern.

Li Si gasped for air. "I…I'm okay. Look, we've completely broken the first layer of his armor."

Kaire turned to face the eunuch, who was already running toward them. She quickly reached into her vest and threw a piece of paper at him. Instead of grabbing the paper, however, Lau Shek raised his palms and shot a electricity-like blast from his palms, which cut through the paper like a hot knife through butter.

"No! He didn't fall for it!" cried Kaire.

"Zan!" yelled Lau Shek.

Kaire and Li Si jumped out of the way as a powerful gust of wind past between them, a gust so powerful that it would've easily carried them off the mountain and to their deaths. Lau Shek let loose with a fusillade of tsu attacks. The watery fists battered the ground and sides of the mountain as the two warriors ran circles around eunuch, who stayed in the same place throughout the attack.

Kaire's mind raced as to how to get in close enough attack him. At the same time, however, he may still be using the God's Armor at this point. Unfortunately, he would not fall for the same trick again. Kaire ducked her head as a tsu blast whizzed right past her head, reducing a chunk of the mountain into dust.

"And now what?" she said to herself. Then she had an idea.

Kaire, instead of running in a circle, ran directly at Lau Shek. Dodging his techniques, she leapt high to the air to deliver a flying side kick to his head. When her foot connected with the target, she felt as if she had struck a stone wall with her foot and fell to the earth.

"Kaire! No! What are you doing?" she could hear Li Si yell.

Before Kaire could get back up again, she felt a powerful hand grip her throat. The Taoist sorceress was soon lifted high into the air by the powerful eunuch, who tightened his grip on her. Kaire forced her head to turn a little, seeing Li Si run to rescue. At the same time, she thrust her foot out several times to kick Lau Shek in the face, but he didn't flinch.

As Li Si made her way over to help Kaire, Kaire reached down at her sword, which still hung by her side. With two quick slashes, Kaire cut through Li Si's robes and blouse, causing them to fall to the earth. Li Si became white with horror. Lau Shek turned to Li Si and saw her naked torso. Then, all of a sudden, a powerful force, like some sort of invisible hammer struck Lau Shek and knocked him so far back that he almost toppled off the mountain right there. Kaire fell to the ground, breathing rapidly. She stifled laughter as she saw Li Si hastily tying her robes and blouse together in such a way as to cover her bosom again.

"I can't believe you did that," Li Si scolded Kaire.

"Well, we broke through the armor, didn't we?" Kaire giggled.

Li Si rolled her eyes. Looking up at Lau Shek, who was pulling himself to his feet, she let out a sigh. "The last armor to break through is the hardest one yet."

Kaire sheathed her sword and pulled out her piercers again, sliding her middle fingers through the metal rings on them. "Well, let's make this one count."

The two female fighters charged the still-confused eunuch and unleashed a barrage of blows upon him. Kaire jabbed at his pressure points with the sharpened ends of her Demon Rods while Li Si struck him with her fingertips, which were rigid and close together, in such a way that her hands like the head of a snake. Lau Shek quickly came to and the fight became ferocious.

Lau Shek slammed his feet and palms into the girls, knocking them back and causing them to spit blood all over the rocky surface of the mountain. However, the two remained undeterred and went in for another attack. The struck at the various nerves and veins located in his torso, such as the solar plexus beneath his sternum, the veins in his armpits and in other spots. With much agility, they were able to avoid most of punches and kicks, rolling her his legs and attacking his groin and blood vessels behind his knees. Kaire, distracted by her attempts to stab him in his throat with her rods, took a vicious punch to her stomach, and then another to her face.

Blood poured from her mouth as she slowly got up. She spoke up with difficulty, as it hurt even for her to talk. "Ah Li! How many more points to attack?"

Li Si, twisted her away around all of his attacks and struck him in several nerve points along his arms with her fingers tumbled backward and flipped to her feet next to her colleague. "Let's for those in his temples, eyes, and the top of his head."

The two somersaulted forward, but were met by a flying spin kick from Lau that struck both of them across the cheek with his heel. Kaire and Li Si spun through the air and landed on the ground. Li Si got up and saw Lau Shek jump into the air and pull his arm back, ready to strike Kaire with a powerful palm strile. Li Si instinctively grabbed her fan and opened up, jumping toward Kaire and placing the fan between Kaire's heart and Lau Shek's palm. Lau Shek's palm struck the fan, denting it and sending Kaire back several feet again. Li Si quickly glanced at the handprint left in the fan and then, throwing it aside, started darting her fingers at Lau Shek's eyes.

Kaire, breathing heavily now, happened to look over at the path and saw Ah Han and the harpist running up the trail to meet them. "Ah Han!" she yelled, recoiling from the pain in her face. "Help us! We need to find Lau Shek's weak spot."

Ah Han motioned for the harpist to stay back. Ah Han took off in a full sprint toward the Eunuch. He then jumped in the air, feet first, and wrapped his legs around Lau Shek's torso. Lau Shek started punching Ah Han in the chest and stomach, but the scholar maintained his grip on the eunuch.

"Kaire! Now!" yelled the hapless scholar.

Kaire got up and, with all of her willpower, re-entered the fight. Her and Kaire begin hitting the distracted Lau Shek in his throat and eyes. Kaire jammed her piercers into this throat from several angles, but was not able to penetrate his skin. With her snake-like attacks, Li Si struck the eunuch's eyes, but he wasn't phased by them. Lau Shek continued to punch Ah Han, who was already coughing up blood. Kaire jumped into the air and brought one of her piercers down on the top of Lau Shek's head, but that too didn't break through his armor. Nor did Li Si's attacks to the base of this skull.

"Li Si! How many points do we have left to test?" Kaire asked, catching her breath.

"I don't…Kaire, inside the mouth! It's inside his mouth!"

Kaire lurched forward and thrust her arm out. The point of the piercer broke through Lau Shek's teeth and went deep inside his mouth. Blood began dripping from his lips. Kaire shoved the piercer in as far as it could go. The eunuch began to stagger and soon ceased punching Ah Han. Then Li Si pulled out her other fan and threw it at his neck. The fan twirled through the air and sliced right through the eunuch's neck, severing its head from its body. At that moment, Ah Han released his grip on Lau Shek and dropped to the ground.

Kaire and Li Si ran over to Ah Han's side.

"Ah Han! Ah Han!" cried Kaire, wiping the tears from her eyes. "No! You can't die. You have Saya! You still have Saya!"

Ah Han, his face covered with streams of blood, simply smiled and closed his eyes. He said nothing.

Kaire and Li Si looked at each other. Even Li Si was on the verge of weeping.

Suddenly, a man's voice yelled out. "Watch out! Get out of the way!"

The two turned to see the headless body of the eunuch moving under its own power and running toward them. The two flipped out of the way, leaving an open space between the harpist and the eunuch. The harpist quickly lifted up his harp and plucked a few strings. Two large fireballs sailed forth from the harp and struck the body. A huge crimson fireball erupted. When the smoke cleared, seconds later, there was nothing but scattered ashes where the body once stood.

Kaire and Li Si made their way over to the harpist, whose head was yet covered by his hat.

"Thank you, kind stranger," said Kaire, bowing to him.

"Yes, we are in your debt," followed Li Si, her calm demeanor hiding the inner hurt she felt at Ah Han's death.

The harpist simply nodded. He then reached into his tattered robe and pulled out a small scroll and handed it calmly to Li Si. Li Si unrolled the scroll and read it allowed.

"You may now remove my hat."

Li Si lifted an eyebrow at Kaire, who seemed equally surprised. The blue-haired young lady then gestured for her to go ahead. Li Si stretched her arms out and lifted up the harpist's large hat. As she set it aside, Li Si saw a quiet, humble visage whose long blue hair was tied up in a bun. The face, which Li Si immediately recognized, gazed deep into her eyes and smiled. There was a look of fatigue on it, but it was content as well.

"Ru-Ne…" was all Li Si could say.

"Yes, Ah Li. It is me," Was his only response.

Li Si drew the blue-haired scholar into a strong embrace. Ru-Ne drew her head into his bosom and ran his delicate fingers through her brown hair, now matted with dirt and pebbles and blood. Looking deep into each other's eyes, their lips met for the first time in several years. It was more than enough to make the feisty female fighter forget about the numerous wounds on her body. Indeed, it was more than enough to make them forget about the fear and solitude in which they had lived for the past several years.

Author's observations:

- The idea of a superpowerful eunuch is a common one in Chinese cinema and literature. One of the reasons for such is that eunuchs were generally virgins, and a common trope in the genre is that a virgin's kung fu was more powerful than he who wasn't. That said, films like The Swordsman and Butterfly and Sword feature eunuch's who are nearly indestructible (the headless body that still fought is actually taken from the latter film).


	7. Chapter 7

In a forest somewhere in the mountainous regions of the Eastern Islands, a young couple trekked cautiously up the steep dirt path. The wife, a young red-haired lady, guided her husband, a blind man, up the path that rose and fell as it meandered through the small valley that cut through the ridge. The couple remained quiet, although once in a while they would stop to catch their breath and the man would lovingly stroke his wife's face and run his fingers through her long, flowing hair.

At length the two reached a clearing and decided to stop again. As they did so, the wife realized that they were not alone. Looking up, she saw a humanoid figure sitting in a large tree branch, staring at him with a pair of small red eyes. He was covered with blue feathers and had a small bird's beak where his mouth should've been. Their eyes met and the woman tugged her husband's arm and whispered something into his ear. The creature in the trees remained silent and continued to watch the couple slowly.

The man and woman rose and walked toward the tree, stopping a few feet from it and, kneeling down on the leaf-covered ground, bowed to the creature.

With a loud squawk, the creature leapt from the tree and landed in front of the couple. "Who are you and why do you seek my presence?" asked the creature, a tengu, in a loud, demanding voice.

The man spoke up. "I am Cha-Zi, a disciple of Li Si, who once studied under your tutelage. This is my wife Ri-Ge."

The tengu nodded in contentment. "Li Si. An excellent pupil she was. I am told that you all were able to defeat the powerful Lau Shek."

Ri-Ge nodded. "Yes, Master Grizu. Li Si and another fighter, Ti'Er Kaire of Wudan, defeated him."

"So, why are the two of you here, then?" the tengu asked.

Cha-Zi reached into his coat and pulled out two iron fans and untied the sword that hung from his belt. He handed them to the tengu. "Li Si asked us to return these to you with her most heartfelt thanks. She also asked us to give you this note." Cha-Zi handed Grizu a small piece of paper.

Grizu read the note carefully and remained silent for a few moments, staring at the blind man and his beautiful wife.

"Very well. I shall honor my student's request and take the two of you in as my students as well. However, before we begin, we need to consult the kappa known as Raja about your futures. I have a feeling that your destiny lies in this great land."

Li Si took a break from practicing her martial arts forms to gaze upon her companion, Ru-Ne, who sat in the corner of the Hunter's Guild hall writing. Ever since she had exposed Lau Shek's plot to overthrow the emperor and convince the Court to pardon the Hunter's Guild, Ru-Ne had taken it upon himself to write the stories of the heroes who had fought so hard to save the country from tyranny.

"How is your story coming?" Li Si asked affectionately.

Ru-Ne looked up at Li Si and smiled. "Not bad. I'm nearing the halfway point. Writing books is far more fulfilling than sitting in a chair on street waiting for some young man to ask me to write poetry for the girl he loves."

Li Si laughed at that. "You never write poetry for me, my dear."

Ru-Ne turned red. "I'll make a point of correcting that," he said quickly.

At that moment, the door to the guild open and two people entered. The first was a large, tall man with jet black hair. He wore strange clothing, a white shirt that opened at the chest and a pair of beige pants that were made of a different fabric than the trousers that most men wore. He was accompanied by a young lady with long green hair and a bright, infectious smile. She wore a dress that Li Si had never seen before.

"Is this the Hunter's Guild?" asked the man with a heavy accent, which immediately confirmed Li Si's suspicions that the two were foreigners.

Li Si nodded. "Yes it is. How may I help you? I am Li Si and this is my husband, Ru-Ne."

The man looked at his young companion and grinned. "Your reputation precedes you, Miss Li Si. I am Firenze, captain of the Canavela. This is my daughter, Demi. We hail from Portugal."

Li Si nodded. "I've heard of that place. Well, if you're a ship captain, what do you need with an escort company like the Hunter's Guild?"

"I'm told that you're one of the best fighters in this part of the world. I have a mission to deliver some important goods to a port in the southern regions of the country. However, the number of pirate attacks has been increasing dramatically, so I've decided to go overland. I'd like to hire your services."

Firenze looked at Demi and nodded.

"Shall the two of you be joining us?" inquired Li Si.

Demi nodded and smiled. "Of course. And don't worry about me, I can handle my own in a fight if need be. The young lady reached into the small silk vest that she wore over her dress and pulled out two objects that looked like metal tubes attached to wooden handles."

Li Si lifted an eyebrow and looked over at Ru-Ne, who shared her look of intrigue.

"I've heard of those," the blue-haired scholar commented. "'Guns', I believe they are called."

Firenze and Demi nodded.

"Well Mr. Firenze, we'll have to sit down and work out the particulars, but I think we can do business together."

Kaire wiped down the counter of the bar at the restaurant inside the inn, now called Heping Fandian, or "Peace Hotel."After the decisive battle with Lau Shek, Kaire decided to stay behind at the inn and change it into a place for protection for people on the run, be it from the law or otherwise. She still kept her fox spirit waitresses, who entertained her guests and made sure that there was always food for those staying there. The Peace Hotel had become of a sanctuary for those needing a second chance to start over again and put their past actions behind them.

As the last of her guests retired to their rooms, Kaire went into the kitchen and returned with a small bucket of water. She stepped out of the inn through the back door and made her way to a small garden. At the far corner of the garden, away from the numerous vegetables that grew, were two large plants. One was a large, blue bellflower and the other was a white Cape jasmine plant. The two plants grew next to each other, their stems and roots intertwined, the two largest flowers of each plant growing close to each other.

Kaire watered both plants and gently caressed the petals of each of the two large flowers. As the blue-haired woman returned to the inn to take care of her other duties, she heard the sounds of two people, a young man and a young woman, laughing and reading poetry to another.

Kaire grinned and went back inside the old building, the Taoist temple that she converted into a hotel, the place she now called her home.


End file.
